"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

In an interview with Hank Tester, John Suarez told the NBC6 journalist that the Associated Press report "read like communist Cuban propaganda" and that:

"It seems to be a tempest in a teapot. You had a project that was around for less than three years, maybe 2 and a few days which the purpose was to provide uncensored content to Cubans, providing avenues to express themselves is a positive thing that requires no apology."

While disagreeing with David Shipley at Bloomberg View on his views towards sanctions in Cuba, he does offer an excellent analysis of the "Cuban twitter" non-controversy:

First, this was not some kind of super-spooky deal. Not many “covert operations” get reviewed
by the Government Accountability Office: As it noted last year, the
U.S.'s efforts to promote democracy in Cuba “have included a greater
focus on information technology, particularly on supporting independent
bloggers and developing social networking platforms.” The GAO found
nothing unlawful about the program.
Promoting democracy and human rights is squarely in USAID’s bailiwick -- it's right there on its website, on a page titled "Democracy, Human Rights and Governance Strategy." The idea that USAID is some kind of vestal virgin dispensing surplus wheat and well pumps ignores the “U.S.” before the AID.
None
of this is to say that humanitarian aid programs should be used as a
cover for intelligence programs. What the Central Intelligence Agency
did in Pakistan -- use a vaccination program to try to locate Osama bin
Laden -- was outrageous and wrong. But USAID’s democracy assistance
programs are designed to strengthen the ability of citizens to
peacefully resist and undermine authoritarian and abusive governments.
In Cuba -- which has an aggressive intelligence service that actually
had an agent
within USAID -- a certain amount of subterfuge is necessary for those
programs to be effective and to protect their intended beneficiaries.
The
biggest weakness of USAID's Cuba program was that the agency wasn't
prepared for its success. When the messaging platform began growing
beyond easy control, the agency's concerns about disclosure and cost led
to its shutdown. Maybe the agency should have put some of those
government lawyers to work creating a less ad hoc structure that would
have provided stable financial support while maintaining a more formal
arms-length separation from the U.S. government.

Sad to see how far the Associated Press, in this article departed from its fundamental values and its "abhorrence of inaccuracies, carelessness, bias or distortions."